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What is Whole House Renewables?

At Your Energy Your Way, we think that creating a low carbon home is so important it shouldn’t be done in a piecemeal way. We give advice on what renewables technologies are best for your home and budget. Here is an example from one of our customers.

The owner of this Georgian 6 bed house was keen to remove himself from the gas grid and make his home a show home for renewables.  The particular challenges we faced were:

  • the age of the property
  • the fact that it bordered a conservation area
  • the unsuitability of the house roof for PV

The first step was to check that the customer had carried out all suitable insulation measures.  This included double glazing throughout, loft insulation and draught proofing.  Despite this, the house still had a heat loss of 24kW at a design temperature of -2 degrees outside.  We discovered this through a room by room heat loss survey.

Our survey identified three things:

  1. The radiators were to small for a low temperature heat pump (running at max 50 degrees)
  2. The radiators needed upgrading even for a high temp heat pump (running at 60 degrees)
  3. We would need two single phase heat pumps to meet the heat load

As a result, our first step was to upgrade the majority of the radiators in the house, including some curved bay window radiators.

Solar PV and battery

Given the electrical demands of this system and the fact that the customer owned 2 electric vehicles, we suggested solar PV and a battery to help meet this demand.  The house roof was not suitable, so we installed the maximum solar PV installation (without incurring shading) on the garage roof as shown.

We used 8 x LG Neon All Black Mono PV panels, one of the highest output all black panels on the market at the time.

We also installed a battery  to enable the solar PV to be used outside of daylight hours. We couldn’t install a hybrid battery charger/inverter, so we put in a Solis Dual 2500 inverter in the garage (putting the lower placed string on a separate MPPT) and a GivEnergy 2.6kWhr battery in the house near the fuseboard.

Inverter, Battery and Solar Thermal Panel

Solar Thermal

There was a further south facing roof space available, but due to the conservation area surrounding the property the customer didn’t want any panels sitting higher than the level of the roof.  Therefore we suggested a Vitasol-300 3.03m2 evacuated tube solar thermal panel.  Solar thermal panels work well at all angles and from March to September will be able to provide the majority of the hot water for the customer reducing reliance on the heat pump and the electricity supply.

Heat Pumps

To meet the heat load of the property we installed 2 x Hitachi 6HP high temp heat pumps, each with an output of 14kW at design temperature.  Planning permission had to be granted for the install because 2 heat pumps are not permitted under permitted development.

Air Source Heat Pump Plant room and Outdoor Units

EV Chargers

Finally, we installed 1 x 7kW EV Charger to charge the customer’s EV and 1 x 3kW EV charger to charge the customer’s plug in hybrid car with a much smaller battery.

How does an air source heat pump work?

Air source heat pumps (ASHP) are being talked about more and more.

It’s no surprise with low emissions and low running costs and attracting potential income through the UK government’s Renewable Heat Incentive (RHI).

But how does an ASHP work?

Can you get heat from thin air?

The short animation below shows you how:

Outside air is drawn into the ASHP, The air gives up this heat at the heat exchanger, The heat from this air turns refrigerant liquid into gas at very low temperatures, The warm gas is compressed by the compressor. This makes it hot, The hot gas gives up this heat at the heat exchanger, The water from your central heating system takes up this heat and heats your house, The now liquid refrigerant is cooled through the expansion valve ready to start again, This process repeats until your house is warm and toasty.

If you are interested in finding out more about the benefits and costs of installing air source heat pumps, get in touch at info@yourenergyyourway.co.uk

Solar PV on New Buildings

Here at Your Energy Your Way, we think that all new buildings should include solar panels, unless of course they’re facing due north, or are under the shade of a huge oak tree. We work with architects, builders and self-builders to ensure that panels on your new build really look like they should be there and add value to the appearance of the building.  That’s why we much prefer to install panels like these roof integrated ones we’ve just put on a roof in Ashford, Middlesex.
As you can see, this roof has been felted and battened as usual, then while the roofer’s busy tiling the other side of the roof we are puting on our panels and flashings. After which the roofer will return and tile the rest of the roof.
And the really good news?  This doesn’t need to cost any more than panels bolted on over your tiles.  Here’s why:
  • Buy less tiles
  • Install less tiles
  • Easier coordination of trades
  • No awkward tile cuts to accommodate roof hooks
  • Flashing that integrate with velux windows
We are experts in working out how many PV panels will fit on your roof to enable you to meet a target set by planning, or to meet Part L.  Let us take a look at your plans and we can advise on all your new build solar PV needs.

How much will a free car charger cost you?

Many of the electric car manufacturers offer a car charging point as part of the package with a new electric car –  sounds great but there is a catch.
Many motorists are prepared to drive quite a way to shave a few pennies of the cost of petrol – wouldn’t you want to pay the minimum price for each kW that charges your electric vehicle?
With smart car chargers, you can choose to charge your car when energy is at its cheapest – for instance when you can get energy direct from your solar panels or when there is power available from your battery.
And even if you don’t have any low cost sources of energy, most experts agree that peak time charging for energy is on the horizon and you don’t want the car charging when you will get charged most for your energy.
Zappi from Myenergi is one of the first smart car chargers on the market – so if you are thinking of going electric with your car, make sure you are also making the smart choice about how to charge it.
Get in contact for more information or advice.
To learn more:
Zappi from Myenergyi
“Off-peak charging vital for electric car power supply, experts say” from the Guardian
“Households offered first time-of-use energy tariff” from the Financial Times

Your Career Your Way

Are you a woman put off a particular career choice because it is in a male dominated industry? A recent survey showed that as many as 53% of female 18 to 25 year olds were put off training to be plumbers or electricians for just that reason.
Here are 3 ways that Your Energy Your Way are aiming to change that:
  1. Make jobs and training available to women in a supportive environment so that our staff know we are with them every step of the way
  2. Visit schools and provide first hand evidence for pupils about opportunities and challenges of working in the trades.
  3. Take positive action to ensure we make sure women are actively encouraged to find jobs in our organisation.
We want to deliver the best service to our customers and help you to have your career your way.

“Prosumer”

It’s a horrible word – let’s be honest it’s not even a word! Another example of marketing speak.

And yet…

Annoyingly, I feel “prosumer” puts its finger on something.

Be pro instead of con: Don’t just be a consumer of energy – make a choice, take control – take positive action

Be a pro: You don’t have to just get energy from the grid and fill up your car with fuel – you can be a pro at energy consumption.

So much as it annoys me; I do want our customers to be “for” reducing their impact on the environment, promoting clean energy and optimising their energy use

And I do want our customers to be “a pro” at how they access and use energy, so they can reduce their bills while exercising their choice.

So get in contact if you want to know more about our services – we promise we won’t call you a prosumer.